Gilbert de Normandie

Gilbert de Normandie (1109-) was an illegitimate son of King Henry I of England and a claimant to the Kingdom of England during the reign of Stephen of Blois.

Biography
Gilbert was the bastard son of King Henry I of England by an unknown mother, and he was raised by his father. He was from the House of Normandy, a dynasty of Catholic Normans. Gilbert was disqualified from the succession because of his illegitimacy, and he was instead made the heir to the Bishopric of Winchcombe as a vassal of Robert of Gloucester, his half-brother (possibly a full brother if they were both of the same illegitimate mother). Count William of Surrey, an opponent of the accession of the new king Stephen of Blois in 1135, decided to back Gilbert's claim to the throne and rallied around him with a faction of Normandy loyalists. However, Count Tancred of Lincoln backed William de Normandie's claim, giving him two rivals. Soon, more and more claimants would appear.